Carrying the unconscious Cioccolata, Kira Yoshikage strode through the grand and empty corridors of the Presidential Palace as if he were carrying a trash bag. The Little Cars also roamed freely here, killing anyone they saw, leaving no one alive.
All escape routes from the Presidential Palace were blocked by the Little Cars, turning it into a deadly cage from which no one could leave.
Kira Yoshikage's senses swept through every corner like a radar, searching for Diavolo.
He had just dealt with Cioccolata and Secco, and the surroundings had become very quiet, as the after-effects of Cioccolata's ability had already caused many people to die from mold.
And Kira Yoshikage had reason to believe that Diavolo would absolutely not let the Flammable Trash Duo come alone, because the Boss did not trust them.
A suffocating premonition of an impending storm filled the air. The ordinary guards had long been cleared out by him, and the entire Presidential Palace seemed to have transformed into a vast, silent labyrinth, being explored by Kira Yoshikage.
This feeling was like a cat playing mouse; he was searching little by little, looking for possible clues.
Even if he couldn't catch Diavolo, he could at least confirm that the President was here, and the President could probably help him get in touch with Diavolo.
Suddenly, an extremely faint but needle-sharp sense of crisis pierced Kira Yoshikage's mind!
It didn't come from the front or the sides, but... above!
He suddenly looked up, his gaze seeming to penetrate layers of ceilings, looking towards the Rome sky. His sudden turn directly scared away the chilling gaze that had been fixed on him.
Almost at the same time, at the end of the corridor in front of him, a pink-haired figure ran past in a panic. That person was as small as a little boy, but his pink hair... Diavolo! He really was here, and so brazenly!
"I found you!"
Kira Yoshikage's eyes blazed with light. Regardless of whether it was a trap, he instantly threw Cioccolata, whom he was holding, forward like trash, and his figure transformed into an afterimage, rushing towards that corner!
Cioccolata became a bomb; the terrifying explosion on his body directly blew the pink figure away, and Kira Yoshikage also arrived in an instant, rushing over with a powerful gust of wind.
However, just as he was about to round the corner, "Who are you? You're not Diavolo!"
Looking at the pink-haired, twisted little boy lying on the ground, despite also having pink hair, his appearance was completely different from Diavolo's, unlike Doppio.
Kira Yoshikage grabbed the boy by his collar. Looking at his face, which was continuously gushing blood, and his rolling eyes, he felt a surge of anger.
"I... fell for a trick?"
Buzz----!!!!
But then, before Kira Yoshikage could deal with the pink-haired wack in front of him, he had an ominous premonition.
An indescribable, immense malice and omen of destruction, as if from heaven and earth itself, pressed down from the sky like a tangible tsunami!
The glass of the entire Presidential Palace, no, the entire city of Rome, was trembling slightly!
Kira Yoshikage's steps suddenly halted, his expression truly changing for the first time. This time, he felt a fatal threat, just as he would have felt facing a bullet to the face when his physique had not yet mutated.
This scale of threat... far exceeded any attack he had experienced before! This was no longer a power at the individual or army level!
"This is...?!"
He suddenly turned his head and looked at the huge stained-glass window on one side of the corridor; he looked into the distance.
Through the colorful glass, he could see several points of light with dazzling contrails on the distant horizon, breaking through the clouds at an unimaginable speed, accurately falling towards Rome, or rather, towards the Presidential Palace area where he was!
Nuclear bombs! And multiple ones! The US military had actually deployed ultimate strategic weapons! To eliminate him, Kira Yoshikage, they would not hesitate to wipe the ancient city of Rome, along with countless lives within it, from the map!
"Funny Valentine... you madman!"
Kira Yoshikage instantly understood; only that vampire President hidden behind the scenes had the authority and determination to issue such an order!
This was pure, undisguised state-level violence, the ultimate "response" to his individual power!
Time seemed to stretch infinitely. Kira Yoshikage could almost hear the faint commotion and desperate cries from the distant city, but he calmed down.
The shadow of death had never been so clear and vast.
But on Kira Yoshikage's face, after the initial shock, there was not despair, but a furious, sneering grin mixed with extreme excitement and coldness!
"You want to bury me this way? How ridiculous..."
Putting everything else aside, if it was just about energy, the energy generated by any one of his chain explosions was incomparable to a nuclear bomb. It was just that as a living being, seeing such a terrifying scene for the first time would cause fear.
He no longer cared about the pink-haired child close at hand but suddenly spread his arms! The deformed arms behind him wildly danced, pouring all his spirit and power into the Stand within his body, the one most deeply entangled with fate!
"Come on, let me bathe!"
In an instant, a ground-level nuclear strike descended. The entire city of Rome was engulfed in light, and terrifying nuclear explosions erupted one after another throughout the city.
The shockwave swept across the entire city; the classically beautiful city was thus reduced to ruins in the nuclear blast. Under the rampage of the shockwave, not a single intact wall could be found in the city.
And the nuclear blasts were not just one round. After deploying one round of nuclear bombs, the US military did not even wait for the mushroom clouds to dissipate.
The second batch of US military planes arrived... until finally, after not a trace of the entire city of Rome remained, their operation was considered complete.
"Report, the city of Rome has been leveled. The highly threatening target, Kosaku Kawajiri, or rather, Kira Yoshikage, should have been eliminated..."
In a lavish office, a US general smoked a cigar, listening to his subordinate's report, his expression remaining unchanged. Only after listening did he nod slightly, signaling the other person to leave.
But the subordinate did not leave. He hesitated; as the general's confidant and also a relative, he had something he wanted to say.
"Jack, what's wrong? Is there anything else you want to say?"
The general glanced at him. He was not in a good mood right now and did not want to say much, but letting his junior stay there was also not right.
"Uncle Ben..."
"Hmm?! Use titles at work!"
"Yes, sir! Lieutenant General Ben! I wanted to mention that the message from Japan said we were supposed to capture him alive, didn't it? Why did we..."
"Enough! This is not for you to know. Now go back and don't discuss this with anyone else. Do your job."
But Lieutenant General Ben did not let his nephew say more, directly interrupting him and waving him away.
And the nephew, seeing his uncle, who usually loved to smoke, throw his cigar to the ground, also swallowed hard and retreated without hesitation.
In this line of work, the most important thing is to read the room.
The lieutenant general, however, remained seated in his chair, his expression grim. Did he not know that Japan wanted him alive?
The message from the newly appointed Prime Minister today explicitly stated that he must be captured alive, and he had even controlled several small countries to demonstrate to them. Otherwise, would he not have sent troops today, allowing Kira Yoshikage to be quiet for half a day?
But now the great President had also given an order... He could only be caught in the middle here... If this matter went well, it would not be his credit, but the President's excellent guidance, and he would receive a reward, but he would also bear Kishibe Rohan's wrath.
If he did not do well... then he would be dead.